Party central for princes

Party central for princes

The Queen has virtually abandoned it as her home and now spends most of her time at Windsor Castle.

Now aides are considering the possibility of mothballing the palace as a sovereign’s royal residence and turning it over to the younger royals.

But the idea has appalled some crusty courtiers, who fear the hard-partying brothers are not yet ready to take charge of such an important piece of British tradition.

One declared: “It would be horrific – like one giant nightclub. It could do enormous damage to the image of the monarchy.”

Wills and Harry are struggling to find places to live in London and are determined not to continue staying with dad Charles in Clarence House.

A palace source said: “One of the solutions being looked at is Buckingham Palace which certainly has the space for them.”

The Queen and Prince Philip now spend more time away from the palace than they do in it.

Most weeks they leave London by Thursday afternoon and the Queen doesn’t return until the following Tuesday morning. And a royal insider explained: “Buckingham Palace has never been one of the Queen’s favourite homes.

“It’s very much the flat above the shop as far as she’s concerned.”

Royal officials have always denied that the Queen has any intention of moving out.

But aides hope that she might see handing it on to the next generation over the next two years as an acceptable compromise.

One said: “She doesn’t want to see it turned into a museum in her lifetime.

“There has to be a focus in the capital for the monarchy.”

Princess Anne has moved to St James’s Palace and neither Prince Andrew nor Prince Edward uses their suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace.

An aide said: “Apart from the Queen and the Duke it is usually empty apart from all the household and staff.

“There are considerable savings to be made from scaling down the way the palace is used.”

Royal officials are struggling to keep up with the millions of pounds of repairs to the fabric of the home.

Centuries old masonry around the palace quadrangle has become so damaged massive lumps of stone have been falling on to the car park below. Repairs will cost £5million, say officials.

Other repairs have been put on hold because funds to undertake them are running out.

In his hunt for a home William viewed his mother Princess Diana’s old apartment in Kensington Palace but he didn’t take the move any further.